Ruins (SYOC open)
by anim8or
Summary: One hundred years after the Lions of Voltron disappeared, a new threat rises. Will the new Paladins be able to rise to the challenge and defend the universe like their predecessors? Or will the universe fall into ruins? (Characters needed!) (rating subject to change)
1. Ch 0

The baby didn't look Altean.

It didn't look anything like her husband, either, but that was going to be a given in the situation she'd put herself in. But she'd allowed herself to hope that, perhaps, the child would look like her, at least. And he did, in a way. Soft features on his little face – the same scrunch to his nose when he was upset. The same dark gray eyes peeked back at her when he opened them.

But his Altean markings – light pink – looked more like blush on the tops of his cheekbones, instead of the clear-cut markings that most Alteans had. His ears were wider, his skin tone was the same shade as her own copper, but it was... off, somehow. Almost purple-tinted, in a way.

Oh, and the little, lion-like tail. That was a dead giveaway.

Queen Callae had singlehandedly, willingly, and knowingly shamed her people. There was no possibility of the proud race of Alteans accepting this half-bred child as their crown prince. King Halon would quite possibly leave her for her extramarital affairs, and she'd be outcast.

This was necessary, she told herself.

Even if she didn't want to do it.

She'd given birth only hours before, and she was beyond fortunate that Halon had been several planetary systems away on a diplomatic mission. The man was excited for his child to be born, but being the king of Altea came with an overwhelming amount of responsibilities. Callae hadn't wanted him there, anyway.

Very few people knew of her folly. Her midwife, her advisor, and a lower-class Altean couple that her advisor had found a few states away that had recently had a set of twins – a girl and a boy. They were unable to care for both of them, and had been willing to give the boy to the Queen to raise, under strict orders to never speak to anyone about it.

Callae was safe in her lies.

Now came the difficult part. As much as she had hardened herself, the Queen was a mother, and she found that in spite of the child's appearance, she had a maternal pull toward the boy she'd given birth to. She couldn't simply give him off to an orphanage and never see him again.

They had to come up with a new plan for the boy.

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**{[ **_Ruins_** ]}**

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_Many decaphoebs later..._

His name was Kappa. It held no significance to the Queen - it was chosen by the servant woman who nursed the boy when he was a baby. Callae didn't even know what it meant.

Kappa had grown up in the castle, per Callae's request. A servant, of all things, but a good one nonetheless. The Queen spent her days watching from afar, disconnected but still interested in her son's life. He was much older now - a teenager, nearly a grown man, but not quite there yet. He was unassuming as a servant, since many of them were half-blooded, and got along fairly well with the others.

The boy was a failure at gardening, she'd observed, but excelled greatly in mechanics and repairs around the castle. He was smart, which sparked a bit of pride in the woman's chest that she certainly didn't deserve. After all, she'd never really even spoken to her biological child - he hadn't gotten anything significant from her.

Except, perhaps, her love of amorous escapades. She'd seen him sneak in and out of servant's rooms at odd hours of the nights, and make out with other young Alteans outside of the castle when he'd thought no one was watching. Callae could not fault him for it, since she'd been the same at his age, and he was doing nothing wrong by enjoying the company of a woman, or a man.

The boy kept his hair pink, which was a mystery to the Queen. Bright, vibrant pink curls adorned the top of his head in contrast to his light brownish-purple skin. He was a weird one, she had to admit, but still part of her wished to be involved in his life, all these decaphoebs later. It was hard, with her heart so torn toward Kappa, when she should've channeled that love toward the boy that she'd pulled in to take the prince's place. It wasn't fair to him.

The Queen sighed as she leaned on her balcony, surreptitiously watching her biological child as he attempted to plant flowers in the garden outside.

Perhaps she would take the boy she was _supposed _to be mothering out tomorrow. She always told herself that she would make more of an effort for him, but she had never quite accomplished that. Halon was far better at parenting, so she usually just left it to him.

But maybe tomorrow would be different.

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**{[ **_Ruins _**]}**

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_**An ~** Wow, guys. It's been almost two years since I updated Lionhearted. I was in a bad place back then, and while I adored the story and the characters I was writing, it didn't feel right to go back to now, when I'm in a better state of mind and ready to start new things._

_This story takes place about 100 years after Voltron ends. The characters in the Voltron series will play nearly no part in this story at all. Alteans are back on their supremacist BS and there are bad things happening that they don't even know about. Earth and Altea are directly linked, and humans and Alteans are allies. Galra are still rebuilding Daibazaal, but they are doing far better than they were. The Garrison is still a thing, so if you want to send in a human character from there, you can._

_And now for the **steps!**_

_**STEP ONE –** the form can be found on my profile_

_**STEP TWO –** fill out the form and send it in a PM titled Ruins – Character Name – Species. I will need characters that are not Paladins, as well, so your character may be used for different spots. You can send in two characters, but I do have to ask that you do not send in two males or two females – I wanna try and keep the genders pretty well-balanced. NB and trans characters are fine as well. No characters related to canonical Voltron characters._

_**STEP THREE –** enjoy, review when you can, pm me with any questions you have, make sure to fill out the thoughts section when asked, and have fun!_

_**Regarding the adopted Prince –** I will need a more specific, detailed character for him. Pm me if you want to send in the Prince, and we'll discuss it. He's important~!_

_Thank you all for reading. Please PM me with any questions you have, and review to let me know what you thought of it!_

_A note: this chapter is shorter than the rest will be. It's just a prologue._

_Thank you for reading! I'm looking forward to forming Voltron with you guys._

_Love,_

_Anim8or._


	2. Ch I

For the life of him, Kappa could not understand why the flowers he planted kept dying.

As far as he could tell, he was doing what the other servants were doing. Dig a hole, put the flower in. It really wasn't that complicated a process, and it was relatively warm outside for mid Spring. The juniberry plants should be thriving, but here they were, certainly not thriving. And it was only Kappa's that were wilted and sad and crispy, as far as the young man could tell.

It was beyond frustrating.

"I think maybe you're just not much of a gardener."

Kappa looked up at the comment, brow raised. It had come from a castle guard – a pure-blooded Altean man named Laoise. Tall, blond, and handsome as quiznak. Kappa felt the saliva in his mouth evaporate immediately, cheeks flushing about as pink as his hair.

Laoise was leaning on the barrier that separated the garden from the outside world, arm draped down and a smile adorning his lips. He was teasing, clearly, and expected a response.

Oh, yeah. For a second, Kappa forgot he could speak.

"I-I don't know what I'm doing wrong!" he protested as he got to his feet, tail lashing behind him in annoyance. "I mean, as far as I can tell, I'm doing what everyone else is doing. It's like the flowers just hate me or something!" Irritated, he flicked at one of the crisped pink petals. "It sucks. I love the garden."

The older man huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "Maybe you should ask an actual gardener to teach you," he said unhelpfully. Damn him and his stupid, beautiful face. If Kappa weren't so weak to beautiful people, he'd probably be less likely to take shit from him. "It's a shame you weren't taller. Bulkier. You'd've made a nice guard if you'd inherited that Galra height."

Kappa snorted and waved a hand, brushing him off. His height wasn't a sensitive subject for him, though he was shorter than almost every Galra he'd ever met, and even landed himself on the shorter-than-average area on the spectrum for Alteans. Five foot, eight inches, and one quarter. Too small to be considered for guard duty. "You know I'm much more a fan of tending to the castle and techno stuff. Thought I'd, y'know, _branch_ out in my job," he jested, reaching up to shake the tree branch just above his head. "Get it?"

Laoise humored him with a chuckle and shook his head. "Seriously, though, Kappa. Ask one of the gardeners for help sometime," he suggested again, cocking his head to the side. "They'll teach you, I'm sure, and soon the petals on those juniberries you plant will be as pink as your hair." Another tease, Kappa noticed, cheeks heating up again.

"By the way," Laoise continued, reaching out to tug at one of the longer curls atop Kappa's head. The young hybrid frowned and swatted his hand away. "Why the pink? I've never asked."

Kappa shrugged in response, a smile growing on his own lips. "Gotta stand out somehow," he responded simply.

A blond eyebrow rose skeptically. "The ears and tail weren't enough?" he pressed, and Kappa flicked his tail.

"I like to make a statement. And that statement is that changing my hair color is the only thing being half-Altean lets me do, so I'm going to have some bright quiznaking hair," he said proudly, placing his hands on his hips. He looked Laoise up and down and arched his eyebrow with a smirked. "I don't hear you complaining."

The older Altean raised his hands in surrender. "I never said it was a bad thing," he responded, then frowned when the holographic watch around his left wrist chimed. "Ah, quiznak. Gotta get back to work." He turned, waving a hand toward Kappa. "See ya!"

Kappa smiled and waved back.

"Oh, by the way," Laoise called over his shoulder, "Miss Jannia sent me to ask you to visit her tonight. You lucky yelmore."

Heat rose back up to Kappa's cheeks, but he found himself smiling anyway. "Let her know I'll be more than happy to drop by for a little while," he replied, raising his hands up to cover the muddled pink markings on his cheeks – they were likely aglow.

Laoise laughed and shrugged as he trotted backward. "Hey, maybe I'll join you two!" He winked then, and Kappa felt like he was about to implode.

_Oh quiznak, please do,_ he thought.

But what he ended up saying was, "You wish!"

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**{[ **_Ruins_** ]}**

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When Kappa was little, the older staff parented him. The story was that he was an orphan – half Galra, half Altean, and that they hadn't known who his parents were. However, in spite of his nontraditional upbringing and lack of actual parental figures, Kappa had had a good childhood. He was never cold, never hungry, and rarely picked on for his unconventional appearance. After all, in spite of their alliance, Galra and Alteans rarely reproduced together. It just wasn't a mix that blended well.

His favorite caretaker growing up had been a very old woman named Bala. She'd died a few decaphoebs ago, when Kappa was a young teenager, but he still thought about her from time to time. The woman had had a bad habit of yanking on Kappa's fluffy ears or tail when he got out of line, but she made the absolute best fruit stew he'd ever had the pleasure of tasting.

Kappa wondered if Bala would yank his ears and tail now, as he snuck out of Jannia's room in the dead of night.

Probably. He also probably deserved it.

The young man sighed through his nose as he headed down the hall, hands shoved into the pockets of his sleep pants. On the walls, there were many paintings of the king, queen, and prince, all looking... picturesque. Beautiful.

Kappa paused by one, smiling slightly at King Halon's mane of burgundy hair that rested around his shoulders. Halon was huge – a character, really, though Queen Callae often made sure he looked serious in the paintings. Still, he thought he could detect some of that playful light in the man's amber eyes, even through the beautifully-rendered painting.

The queen was just as stunning as her husband. More tan in complexion, with dark brown hair and gray eyes. Dark, serious, and and striking. She'd married into the royal family – a marriage of love, King Halon had described it.

And the prince...

Kappa was startled from his musings by a rumbling sound behind him and whipped around, dark eyes narrowed. The windows were wide and moonlight filtered through, illuminating the halls almost as well as a lantern or torch would.

The rumbling had sounded almost like a growling sound, and it had set off his Galra, in a way. His sclera had yellowed and his pupils slitted as he looked around for the perceived intruder.

If there had been something there at all, he didn't see it, and comforted himself by convincing his mind that he'd imagined it. Still, he went to bed that night with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

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**{[**_ Ruins _**]}**

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**An ~** _Hey, guys! I've gotten several good submissions so far – thank you so much for submitting! I haven't accepted anyone yet, because I honestly need the Prince before I can do much more and I haven't gotten any submissions for him yet. So if you're interested, please pm me!_

_I'm hoping to close submissions by December 7th, so you've gotta get them in before then c:_

_Thank you for reading, reviewing, and submitting! I'm really enjoying getting back into writing, and I have high hopes for this story._

_There might be one or two more Kappa chapters as we prepare to get the ball rolling here!_

_PS. This chapter is still far shorter than what the chapters will be in the future, don't worry!_

_Love,_

_Anim8or._


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